A Wisconsin woman was arrested on Tuesday for alleged nursing home abuse.

The former employee at Columbus Nursing and Rehab Center will tentatively be charged with the felonies of four counts of suffocation and four counts of recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse, according to the Columbus Police Department.

The residents who were allegedly abused all have little ability to communicate, have high need levels, and are 78-85 years old.

Police were contacted by the nursing home’s administration regarding an August 21st incident.

“It was learned that this employee, on four occasions, pinched the nostrils of sleeping residents together, cutting off their oxygen, as a method to wake them up,” said Lt. Dennis Weiner of the Columbus Police Department. “She also placed a pillow over the face of a resident with severe dementia for multiple times, to quiet her down.”

The woman, who worked at the nursing home as a certified nursing assistant, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Columbia County Circuit Court in Portage.